Taken
by Matthew Posivy
Summary: When a young man named Gin finds himself alone in an apocalyptic world, he has to defend himself alone. Or so he thinks. Fighting an insectoid like zombie virus known as Taken, follow Gin as he struggles to survive, and to remain uninfected.


I was told later that the walk back to the subway station took around ten minutes, but at that time, it seemed like days. Violet, overcome by grief and anger, collapsed on the ground beside me. I stop walking and turn to her. "Vi, come on, we have to get out of here." Violet doesn't respond. Her sobs echoing off the stark stone walls that encompass us. Somehow, the sound makes the darkness swallowing us that much more fearful. I kneel down beside her. "Vi, look at me." She does so, her eyes puffy and red, but still as large, brown and beautiful as ever. "Gin." She says. "He's gone. And probably Neuro too….t-t-this, is a-a-all my fault Gin!" "Stop Violet. This wasn't your fault. Neuro is still out there. He had to have made it." Violet's sullen expression suddenly turns to one of anger. "And what about Firas?" She yells at me. "What the hell are we going do now? You don't understand!" Her overflowing anger seems to spill over into me as well. "Yeah? Well maybe I don't understand. What am I going to do about it Violet? What are _we _going to do? Would Firas want us to sit around here moping for him? I doubt it! I didn't even know him for that long and he seemed to want that for us!" Violet whimpers at my harsh tone, but stand up nonetheless. "I turn my back to her. "And Neuro…he's still alive Vi. I know he is." Violet doesn't say anything. Instead, she walks on ahead of me, towards the station. I follow her. I have to follow her. What was this I was feeling? Sorrow? Pity? Remorse? Why was I feeling these things for people I knew so little about? But the answer, it seems, is already there. _Because they are like me. They survived. You need them. Tek and Neuro and Violet, they need me now_.

The rest of the walk back to the station is silent. The only sounds we hear is the gravel crunching beneath our feet, the fait drip of water somewhere, and the occasional squeaking and scurrying of rats. When we finally arrive, I pull myself up onto the platform and collapse, exhausted, both physically and mentally. After a while I painfully get up and Violet follows suit. "Tek!" Violet calls out, her voice cracking from disuse. She throws down her gear in a pile and sprints off toward Tek's room. By the time I catch up with her, she is already at his door. Stopping short of the threshold, I approach her warily. Instead of beginning to cry again, she looks at me. Her face is drawn and pale, and no shine exists in it, unlike when I first saw her. "What do I tell him Gin?" Her voice is barely a whisper, and I have to lean in towards her to hear it. "Tell him the truth." I say, my voice equally inaudible. Violet opens her mouth, then closes it again. She knocks lightly on the metal door, but doesn't wait for an answer. I don't go inside with her. I have no reason to mourn someone I didn't know. Instead I leave the hallway and sit on a bench near the train platform. I feel strangely dizzy, and my amputated finger hurts for some reason. With nothing else to do, and hoping that Violet and Tek's combined sobs won't keep me awake, I lay down on the bench, not bothering to go into my room, and fall asleep.

_GIN. WAKE UP. It's much too bright, too bright for a subway station. I slowly open my eyes and take in what is around me. Or, more specifically, the nothing that is around me. Everything seems to be white, with no people, objects, buildings, anything in sight. I suddenly realize I am standing. "Is this real?" I think the words but they echo all around me, as if I had said them. Suddenly, as if waiting for a cue, shadows appear all around me. As they move in around me, I tense myself for a fight, looking around for a weapon. The things suddenly disappear as fast as they came, and I wonder what could have driven them away. There is a soft clacking sound, a sound I haven't heard since the infection. A subway train. The sound grows louder and louder, almost as if approaching. It is much louder still, though, and I press my hands over my ears. The sound has become a high pitched whine. "Stop!" I hear myself scream. The whine only gets louder. "Stop Please!" I withdraw my hands from over my ears and bring them up to my face, to discover they are covered in blood. I feel sick looking at them, the whining continues, and I faintly remember crashing to the floor. Then, everything, that is to say nothing, goes black._

"Gin! Gin wake up!" My eyes fly open and Violet's face fills my vision. I sit up and realize I am still on the train platform. Strange. Even stranger is the noise that I hear form the tunnel. "What the hell is that?" "That's why I woke you Gin." Violet explains. "This doesn't make sense. It's impossible. No one here can operate a train. There's no one left!" She shakes her head. "The only ones left now are you, me, Tek, and….and…" Violet's eyes widen and a look of dread spreads across her face. It feels like a heavy rock has dropped into my stomach. I spring up, fully awake. "Shit! That's impossible" "There's no time!" I shout over the encroaching subway train. "Get Tek, guns, food, whatever! We have to leave! Move!" Violet dashes away towards Tek's room. I sprint to the kitchen, grabbing a duffel bag from my room on the way. Throwing open the cabinets; I grab whatever I can find. I take a 9mm form the table and tuck it into my belt. The train stops in the station, even from the kitchen I can hear their growls and moans, a lust for blood vocalized. "VIOLET! THEY'RE HERE! MOVE!" I bellow into the hall and run like hell towards the exit door. Violet comes after me, followed by Tek. "You guys go first! I s hot over the onslaught of screeches, wails and moans from the station."theyre right behind us! Go! I'll see you outside!" Violet grabs Tek's hand and wrenches the door open and disappears inside. I fire the gun into the air and run in the opposite direction, down another hallway. The creatures emit their high pitched insectoid screams and barrel towards me. Leaping over a divider, I sprint up the subway stairs and into the bright afternoon light, the monsters at my heels.

CHAPTER TRANSPORTATION

"Hey! Hey you ugly sons of bitches! Come and get some!" I fire a few shots wildly into the crowd of creatures and vault over a road divider. The monsters gurgle and wail with their strange half human half insect voices, some of them pausing to feed on their wounded or dead. The remaining slavering creatures on my heels force me sprint even faster. I know I cannot outrun them. _Maybe I can outsmart them though._ Taking a quick right turn, I head into an apartment building under construction. The Taken don't expect this, and one of them collides head first with a pole, smashing into it with a sickening crunching sound. I dart into the building, and take a quick glance behind me. The monsters have stopped. Not wishing to test my luck, I dive behind a scaffold and stand as still as possible. Realizing after about 10 seconds that I am still alive, I peek out towards the street. They are gone. Relieved, I sink to my knees and let out a breath. _That was too close._ Tucking the gun into my belt, I take a look around. Plastic sheeting covers stark concrete portions of the building. Green scaffolding pipes run overhead and around the walls. Clearly the infection hit before construction finished. I suddenly feel saddened; the loss of the people in this building somehow disturbs me more than usual. The thought brings me back to reality. I have to find Violet and Tek. I take a step, then freeze, the hair on the back of my neck and arms stand straight up. There is a soft sound, kind of like…_voices._ I back up from the entrance and put myself against a scaffold. The voice reverberates around the blank concrete walls. There is a soft _neep neep_ sound, followed by a louder, rasping wheeze, then a single _neep_. Then silence, the strange sound echoing off the walls. Apprehensively, I step forward again, only to have a rotting insectoid head burst out in front of my face. I scream and duck reflexively. There is a _zwip_ as a pair of razor sharp mandibles swing shut where my neck had been moments before. I backpedal wildly, drawing the gun as I do so. Leveling the weapon, I see the monster drop form the ceiling where it was hiding. Not one, but _two_ of the creatures advance. I take aim and squeeze the trigger. Instead of a flash of light and a body hit the floor, I am rewarded with a metallic click. The clip is empty. Cursing my stupidity, I fumble for a fresh magazine. Sensing danger, the first monster leaps forward, crashing into me. I am thrown to the ground and the clip falls from my fingers. It clatters to the floor, useless, five feet away. The monster scrabbles across the floor and leaps into the air. Before I have a chance to move, it collides, and I roll with it, a tumbling mass of exoskeleton and flesh. Pinned down, the Taken lowers it mandibles toward my throat, driven mad by its urge to decapitate me. The creature lets out an insectoid scream, and I start to black out from the pain in my ears. I close my eyes, hoping for a quick death. What I hear however, is not what I expect. There is a noise something akin to a small explosion; dusty concrete fills my eyes and nose. There is a gunshot; and a weight is suddenly lifted off me. "Gin! Let's go!" I scramble to my feet and take someone's hand. I am being blindly pulled through the dust, no idea where I am going. There is a sound of an opening car door, then I am shoved roughly inside of what is presumably an SUV, by the feel of it. I open my eyes and see the girl take the wheel of the car and start the engine. She puts the vehicle in full reverse, tires kicking up debris and shattered plaster. As we peel out into the street, I take a deep breath and look over at the girl. "Thanks Violet."

I press my foot against the accelerator, pushing the car as fast as it will go. "Violet," Tek says from the back seat. "You do know what you're doing right?" I can't really blame Tek for being worried. I haven't driven in years. "He's got to be around here somewhere, he was on foot after all." "Keep your ears open, they aren't the stealthiest things around." Sure enough, a shrill screech cuts over the car's engine. "Bingo." I say. I crank the steering wheel, sending the car into a tight drift, right toward a building under construction. "Violet." I don't answer. "Violet, the door is too small." I say nothing, but grit my teeth. As I close my rapid approach, I can see two figures struggling just inside the entrance. "VIOLET! STOP!" I slam on the brakes, rubber squealing against the pavement. The hood of the car impacts with one of the Taken. I falls to the floor…ten feet away. I grab the semiautomatic rifle from the seat behind me and jump out of the car. Taking aim at the monster pinning Gin. _You won't hurt anymore of my friends bastard._ I fire, and the bullet flies true, passing through the once human cranium. I shoulder the rifle and run over to Gin. He looks pretty out of it, but okay. I take his hand and pull him up. "Gin! Let's go!" I run towards the car, coughing a little through the dust and plaster particles. Yanking open the passenger door, I push Gin inside and swing around to the driver's seat. Cranking the gear into reverse, I back up and turn out towards the street, surprising myself that I don't hit a fire hydrant. Gin moans and opens his eyes. I take my eyes off the road long enough to look at him. "Thanks Violet." He says." Anytime Gin."

"Ugh. My head. Feels like… like I got attacked by mutant freaks."

"Did you just make a joke?"

"I believe I did."

I can't help but smile. So many things have gone wrong. _I still have them._ Think to myself. _And Neuro is still out there. I know it._ "So what now." Gin's voice breaks into my thoughts. I sigh. We have to go somewhere else Gin


End file.
